Board members receive 1:1 Initiative update

Director of Curriculum Instruction and Technology Integration Tona Gardner presented the South Putnam School Board with an update on the 1:1 Together initiative this week.

The program's purpose is to provide students in grades three to 12 with a Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 11e Chromebook and hard-shelled Brenthaven case for school and home use. Gardner said Technology Integration was on track to distribute devices to the high school students this fall. If that goes well, the middle school students will receive theirs during the 2017-18 school year, and the elementary the year after that.

But the school still needs to make a few changes before that can happen. Gardner presented a product called Gaggle, which could be used to monitor students' Gmail and Google Drive accounts just like the Lightspeed filter used for the physical buildings. Another product, Orchestrator, would allow teachers to view their students' screens during a lesson. These products still have to be approved by the board.

The subscriptions are $6 a year per student for Gaggle and $4 at the same rate for Orchestrator, but Gardner says parents will not be responsible for those charges as the school will use the general technology fund. The cost of providing devices and cases to the students will be discussed at the next board meeting in Feb. 16.

There are other technological changes taking place. Technology Director Steve Ricketts will spend this summer installing more WiFi access points in the classrooms, and Principal Mike Schmipf said the school will test whether the electrical circuits can handle multiple students charging their devices at one time.

Gardner reported that 54 devices and cases were given to teachers before Christmas Break so they could adjust to the technology before the students. Providing the devices and cases cost the school a total of $23,077.44, but Gardner said the benefits are already being felt as teachers utilize Google Apps for Education (GAFE), which provides unlimited storage space and access to online work materials, and Google Classroom, which posts announcements and class information online.

Recognizing this is a big change for everyone, Gardner has also taken several measures to answer questions as the transition is made. A Teacher Technology Team with 11 teachers meets once a month to answer questions and take suggestions, as well as a Google + community where teachers can receive more immediate answers. Parents can have their questions answered or make suggestions at sputnamtechnology.weebly.com, and a community night to discuss policies and procedures is planned for this spring.

Gardner and Ricketts spent a year planning the initiative in 2014, and tested some devices in the hands of fifth- and sixth-graders during that time. They also helped teachers make the transition to using cloud storage and Google Drive products like Docs and Slides.

Once the initiative is complete, Gardner says the school will be able to re-purpose the computer lab spaces for storing and repairing students' devices, although desktop devices will remain in the library. She mentioned that other technologies already in use will also be repurposed to avoid wasting money, a main priority, Gardner said, throughout this process.

Some of the funding for the initiative has come from the school board's rainy day fund, as it has anticipated these costs for several years. Technology Integration is in the process of applying for a $75,000 grant from the Indiana Department of Education's eLearning office that will allow them to purchase devices for the third to fifth grades.

"We're not just adding additional costs to parents and the corporation," Gardner said. "We're actually transitioning those. For example, over the last several years the corporation has spent money maintaining computer labs. As we transition to more personal learning devices for students, then you transition the funds away from what you've been spending on the computer labs. When parents come in to pay their fees for the resources their students need, they'll see a similar fee, but instead of paying for a physical resource stuck in time, they're paying for access to resources that are constantly evolving. It's an exciting process and a powerful responsibility. We've been really purposeful in our planning and we keep providing opportunities for people to give us feedback."

In other developments:

-- Superintendent Bruce Bernhardt reported that his main concern recently has been balancing the students' safety and with having enough instruction time to prepare for the ISTEP coming up in late February. He also reported during the Financial Board meeting that South Putnam School Corporation received $14,918.18 in interest from its checking account. The Finanical Board unanimously reappointed the previous year's officers: President Wes Hacker, Vice Presdient Steve Cash and Secretary Dave Bombei.

-- Vice President Steve Cash commented that the board should be aware of changes in education that could come from the Indiana legislature, referencing the article that ran Jan. 19 in the Banner Graphic.

-- Nalah Strange (1st grade; Fillmore), Kingsley Hardy (3rd grade; Central), Hailey Cavanagh (7th grade; Middle School) and Grady McHugh (12th grade; High School) were named January's Students of the Month.

In other business:

-- The board unanimously approved keeping last year's officers in place: President Wes Hacker (four years on the board), Vice President Steve Cash (22) and Secretary Dave Bombei (eight). Rebecca (Becky) Samsel was unanimously re-appointed treasurer, while Terri Beasley was unanimously reappointed deputy treasurer. Attorney John Zeiner was unanimously re-appointed corporation attorney.

-- The Banner Graphic was unanimously re-appointed for legal advertisements.

-- The board unanimously approved the performance bonds for this year. Performance bonds are a form of insurance required by the State Board of Accounts to cover positions responsible for large of amounts of money, and are designed to cover losses in malfeasance cases. The elementary secretaries, high school treasurer and food service director will be covered by a $10,000 policy. The corporation treasurers will be covered by a $500,000 policy.

-- Superintendent Bernhardt, Treasurer Samsel, Deputy Treasurer Beasley and Angie Nichols were unanimously reappointed to the Bid Opening Committee, whose purpose is to receive and open high-dollar project bids. Although the committee is not typically needed, one is appointed each year just in case.

-- In a 4-1 vote, the board elected to continue awarding its members $2,000 a year and $30 for each extra meeting in a 4-1 vote. The dissenting vote was Anthony Heavin, who said executive sessions are not extra meetings and members, therfore, should not receive $30 for each one. Board members are also covered by a $50,000 group term life insurance policy while in office, and have the option to participate in the corporation health insurance plan (although no member currently does).

-- The board unanimously elected to continue meeting the third Monday of every month at 7 p.m., with a few exceptions to allow members' attendance. The exceptions are Feb. 16 at 7 p.m.; March 28 at 6:30 p.m.; April 19 at 7 p.m. and Oct. 10 at 7 p.m.

-- No conflicts of interest were stated at the meeting. Conflicts of interest must be reported to Beasley.

-- After some discussion, the board unanimously approved the claims for the last half of December and the first half of January. The discussion was led by Anthony Heavin, who asked for clarification on some purchases. He was also concerned about the fact that coaches have had to use their own money to fuel buses two or three times now. Superintendent Bernhardt said he would investigate the issue.

-- Seth Hammond was hired as the new social studies and physical education middle and high school teacher; Virginia Lotz and Susan Schwartz were promoted from substitute to full-time bus drivers; and Pat Pisteli was hired as the middle school wrestling coach.

The next South Putnam School Board meeting will be Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. in the music room of Central Elementary School.